"Tongue twisters". Part 1: From idea to design
Frankly, our scheme for creating an application is somewhat different from what is written in smart development books, and therefore questions, tips, opinions and other comments are greatly appreciated.
Let's take a look at the stages of creating our latest application - “tongues on a cardboard” with us.
As we wrote , most of our employees are happy and loving parents. On their own experience, they encounter problems from the field of study and know firsthand how difficult it is sometimes given a child to get acquainted with a new world of sounds and words.
To improve speech skills, many turn to speech therapists or specialized books.
But is it easy to find a really good specialist? Is it expensive for everyone? How long can a child sit at a book?
Unfortunately, the answer is the same: no.
Therefore, the idea to create an educational application for speech correction, with which the child will be able to playfully improve speech skills, has emerged.
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In this case, everything is simple - on the request of “tongue twisters” in iTunes, a couple of books were found that are not directly related to tongue twisters, and on Google Play there is just one application that represents a simple text list of tongue twisters.
But the target audience was more extensive than it seemed at first glance. Speakers are useful not only for kids who practice pronunciation, but also for adults, whose type of activity is somehow connected with public speaking - these are speakers, lecturers, speakers, TV presenters and all those who work with people.
Since the main audience is children, the main and most difficult task is to keep attention. In addition, the application should be really useful, developing.
It was decided:
First of all, we develop an application for iOS, then we port to Android. Why is that?
Seeing for yourself: App Store brings 3 times more profit than Google Play. App Annie's statistics speak for themselves:
As the base technology took Adobe Air. It was assumed a large number of animations that were convenient to draw in Adobe Flash, + already had experience with this technology allowed to make the project fairly quickly.
As usual, it was not without minor inconveniences with the quality of graphics and performance (it was especially slowed down by the algorithm for encoding recorded audio to mp3 on iOS), but on the whole were satisfied. Again, porting to Android took only a couple of days with all the testing and debugging, and voilà - “Skorogov” appeared on Google Play.
The application would come out earlier if the developers of the above-mentioned software did not make maximum efforts to use the editor. For drawing graphics and animation, a licensed version with all recent updates was used (v.12.0.2.529). But with a simple drawing of shapes and lines, as well as using the fill, the editor hangs up regularly. Sometimes it just disappears and everything ... no answer, no greeting. Saved only by frequent saving to different files, using svn, disabling the autosave feature (so as not to work during the hang) and strong nerves. But all the same, it was not without strong wit.
As for the design - frankly, it is controversial. This is not exactly what most users expect from a child application. But it is precisely by this that he is interesting, and most importantly - the children like it.
How it all began? A sheet of paper, a cup of coffee, a general meeting, we throw, we throw, we throw ideas ... And here is the very first picture - the wolf cub, which marked the beginning of the general style. Of course, we could also take a finished drawing, process it in the style of “but this is the same, but the type is drawn with a pencil,” but it is hardly interesting to anyone. Only real, only hardcore!
"Skilters on Cardboard" are only 2 weeks in iTunes and a little less on Google Play ; It is too early to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of different ways of promotion. About testing and marketing, read the "tongue twisters." Part 2 "in a week.
Always yours
Online Science Classroom
Let's take a look at the stages of creating our latest application - “tongues on a cardboard” with us.
Idea
As we wrote , most of our employees are happy and loving parents. On their own experience, they encounter problems from the field of study and know firsthand how difficult it is sometimes given a child to get acquainted with a new world of sounds and words.
To improve speech skills, many turn to speech therapists or specialized books.
But is it easy to find a really good specialist? Is it expensive for everyone? How long can a child sit at a book?
Unfortunately, the answer is the same: no.
Therefore, the idea to create an educational application for speech correction, with which the child will be able to playfully improve speech skills, has emerged.
')
Market analysis and definition of the target audience
In this case, everything is simple - on the request of “tongue twisters” in iTunes, a couple of books were found that are not directly related to tongue twisters, and on Google Play there is just one application that represents a simple text list of tongue twisters.
But the target audience was more extensive than it seemed at first glance. Speakers are useful not only for kids who practice pronunciation, but also for adults, whose type of activity is somehow connected with public speaking - these are speakers, lecturers, speakers, TV presenters and all those who work with people.
Functional definition
Since the main audience is children, the main and most difficult task is to keep attention. In addition, the application should be really useful, developing.
It was decided:
- choose one patter for each letter of the alphabet (well, almost for each one - remember the soft sign, yes);
- for each patter a separate screen with an illustration;
- use the capabilities of the accelerometer to add interactivity to the animations;
- the voice acting is done in the form of two recordings of the announcer for each patter; one entry at a slow pace, the other - quickly;
- realize the ability to add your own audio recordings to each patter.
Platform Selection
First of all, we develop an application for iOS, then we port to Android. Why is that?
Seeing for yourself: App Store brings 3 times more profit than Google Play. App Annie's statistics speak for themselves:
Technology selection
As the base technology took Adobe Air. It was assumed a large number of animations that were convenient to draw in Adobe Flash, + already had experience with this technology allowed to make the project fairly quickly.
As usual, it was not without minor inconveniences with the quality of graphics and performance (it was especially slowed down by the algorithm for encoding recorded audio to mp3 on iOS), but on the whole were satisfied. Again, porting to Android took only a couple of days with all the testing and debugging, and voilà - “Skorogov” appeared on Google Play.
Design and horror Adobe Flash CS6
The application would come out earlier if the developers of the above-mentioned software did not make maximum efforts to use the editor. For drawing graphics and animation, a licensed version with all recent updates was used (v.12.0.2.529). But with a simple drawing of shapes and lines, as well as using the fill, the editor hangs up regularly. Sometimes it just disappears and everything ... no answer, no greeting. Saved only by frequent saving to different files, using svn, disabling the autosave feature (so as not to work during the hang) and strong nerves. But all the same, it was not without strong wit.
As for the design - frankly, it is controversial. This is not exactly what most users expect from a child application. But it is precisely by this that he is interesting, and most importantly - the children like it.
How it all began? A sheet of paper, a cup of coffee, a general meeting, we throw, we throw, we throw ideas ... And here is the very first picture - the wolf cub, which marked the beginning of the general style. Of course, we could also take a finished drawing, process it in the style of “but this is the same, but the type is drawn with a pencil,” but it is hardly interesting to anyone. Only real, only hardcore!
"Skilters on Cardboard" are only 2 weeks in iTunes and a little less on Google Play ; It is too early to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of different ways of promotion. About testing and marketing, read the "tongue twisters." Part 2 "in a week.
Always yours
Online Science Classroom
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/174523/
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